June 3, 2008

• Courtesy of Seminoles.com (Read More...)

DURHAM, N.C. - Buster Posey was named one of five finalists for the 2008 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA) as announced today by USA Baseball. This year will mark the 31st consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player.

The 2008 ACC Player of the Year, Posey leads the NCAA in batting average (.472), on base percentage (.572) and slugging percentage (.908). An accomplished pitcher as well, the junior currently leads Florida State in saves (6) and has not allowed a run in eight appearances. The Leesburg, Ga., native was named ESPN Academic All-American of the Year, and was a member of the 2004 USA Baseball 18U National Team. This is the second year in a row that Florida State has fielded a Golden Spikes Award finalist with Tony Thomas, Jr. in 2007.

Last week, Posey was recognized as the National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and a Louisville Slugger first-team All-American. The accolades continued to grow as he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tallahassee Regional leading the Seminoles to four straight victories and a berth in their first Super Regional since 2005. Posey hit .474 in the tournament with nine hits, five of which went for home runs, and 13 RBIs. He finished the tournament with a 1.263 slugging percentage.

Past Florida State winners of the Golden Spikes Award include J.D. Drew (1997), Mike Loynd (1986) and Mike Fuentes (1984).

The other four finalists on this year's ballot include Georgia's Gordon Beckham, Missouri's Aaron Crow, San Diego's Brian Matusz and Arizona State's Brett Wallace.